Isaiah 54:3
New International Version
For you will spread out to the right and to the left; your descendants will dispossess nations and settle in their desolate cities.

New Living Translation
For you will soon be bursting at the seams. Your descendants will occupy other nations and resettle the ruined cities.

English Standard Version
For you will spread abroad to the right and to the left, and your offspring will possess the nations and will people the desolate cities.

Berean Standard Bible
For you will spread out to the right and left; your descendants will dispossess the nations and inhabit the desolate cities.

King James Bible
For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited.

New King James Version
For you shall expand to the right and to the left, And your descendants will inherit the nations, And make the desolate cities inhabited.

New American Standard Bible
“For you will spread out to the right and to the left. And your descendants will possess nations And will resettle the desolate cities.

NASB 1995
“For you will spread abroad to the right and to the left. And your descendants will possess nations And will resettle the desolate cities.

NASB 1977
“For you will spread abroad to the right and to the left. And your descendants will possess nations, And they will resettle the desolate cities.

Legacy Standard Bible
For you will spread abroad to the right and to the left. And your seed will possess nations And will resettle the desolate cities.

Amplified Bible
“For you will spread out to the right and to the left; And your descendants will take possession of nations And will inhabit deserted cities.

Christian Standard Bible
For you will spread out to the right and to the left, and your descendants will dispossess nations and inhabit the desolate cities.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
For you will spread out to the right and to the left, and your descendants will dispossess nations and inhabit the desolate cities.”

American Standard Version
For thou shalt spread abroad on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall possess the nations, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited.

Contemporary English Version
You and your descendants will take over the land of other nations. You will settle in towns that are now in ruins.

English Revised Version
For thou shalt spread abroad on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall possess the nations, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
You will spread out to the right and left. Your descendants will take over other nations, and they will resettle deserted cities.

Good News Translation
You will extend your boundaries on all sides; your people will get back the land that the other nations now occupy. Cities now deserted will be filled with people.

International Standard Version
For you will spread out to the right hand and to the left, and your descendants will possess the nations and will populate the deserted towns.

Majority Standard Bible
For you will spread out to the right and left; your descendants will dispossess the nations and inhabit the desolate cities.

NET Bible
For you will spread out to the right and to the left; your children will conquer nations and will resettle desolate cities.

New Heart English Bible
For you will spread out on the right hand and on the left; and your descendants will possess the nations, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited.

Webster's Bible Translation
For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited.

World English Bible
For you will spread out on the right hand and on the left; and your offspring will possess the nations and settle in desolate cities.
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
For you break forth right and left, "" And nations possess your seed,

Young's Literal Translation
For right and left thou breakest forth, And thy seed doth nations possess,

Smith's Literal Translation
For the right and the left thou shalt break forth, and thy seed shall inherit the nations, and they shall cause desolated cities to be inhabited.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
For thou shalt pass on to the right hand, and to the left: and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and shall inhabit the desolate cities.

Catholic Public Domain Version
For you shall extend to the right and to the left. And your offspring shall inherit the nations, and you shall inhabit the desolate cities.

New American Bible
For you shall spread abroad to the right and left; your descendants shall dispossess the nations and shall people the deserted cities.

New Revised Standard Version
For you will spread out to the right and to the left, and your descendants will possess the nations and will settle the desolate towns.
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
For you shall expand on the right hand and on the left; and your descendants shall inherit the Gentiles and make the desolate cities to be inhabited.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
Because to the right and to the left you shall increase, and your seed shall inherit the nations and shall cause the cities that are deserted to be inhabited
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
For thou shalt spread abroad on the right hand and on the left; And thy seed shall possess the nations, And make the desolate cities to be inhabited.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
spread forth thy tent yet to the right and the left: for thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and thou shalt make the desolate cities to be inhabited.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Future Blessings for Zion
2“Enlarge the site of your tent, stretch out the curtains of your dwellings, do not hold back. Lengthen your ropes and drive your stakes in deep. 3For you will spread out to the right and left; your descendants will dispossess the nations and inhabit the desolate cities. 4Do not be afraid, for you will not be put to shame; do not be intimidated, for you will not be humiliated. For you will forget the shame of your youth and will remember no more the reproach of your widowhood.…

Cross References
Genesis 28:14
Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and east and north and south. All the families of the earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.

Genesis 22:17-18
I will surely bless you, and I will multiply your descendants like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will possess the gates of their enemies. / And through your offspring all nations of the earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”

Genesis 15:5
And the LORD took him outside and said, “Now look to the heavens and count the stars, if you are able.” Then He told him, “So shall your offspring be.”

Genesis 26:4
I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky, and I will give them all these lands, and through your offspring all nations of the earth will be blessed,

Psalm 2:8
Ask Me, and I will make the nations Your inheritance, the ends of the earth Your possession.

Isaiah 49:19-20
For your ruined and desolate places and your ravaged land will now indeed be too small for your people, and those who devoured you will be far away. / Yet the children of your bereavement will say in your hearing, ‘This place is too small for us; make room for us to live here.’

Isaiah 49:18
Lift up your eyes and look around. They all gather together; they come to you. As surely as I live,” declares the LORD, “you will wear them all as jewelry and put them on like a bride.

Isaiah 60:21
Then all your people will be righteous; they will possess the land forever; they are the branch of My planting, the work of My hands, so that I may be glorified.

Isaiah 61:9
Their descendants will be known among the nations, and their offspring among the peoples. All who see them will acknowledge that they are a people the LORD has blessed.

Isaiah 62:4-5
No longer will you be called Forsaken, nor your land named Desolate; but you will be called Hephzibah, and your land Beulah; for the LORD will take delight in you, and your land will be His bride. / For as a young man marries a young woman, so your sons will marry you; and as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so your God will rejoice over you.

Jeremiah 30:19
Thanksgiving will proceed from them, a sound of celebration. I will multiply them, and they will not be decreased; I will honor them, and they will not be belittled.

Jeremiah 33:22
As the hosts of heaven cannot be counted and as the sand on the seashore cannot be measured, so too will I multiply the descendants of My servant David and the Levites who minister before Me.”

Ezekiel 36:10-11
I will multiply the people upon you—the house of Israel in its entirety. The cities will be inhabited and the ruins rebuilt. / I will fill you with people and animals, and they will multiply and be fruitful. I will make you as inhabited as you once were, and I will make you prosper more than before. Then you will know that I am the LORD.

Ezekiel 36:37-38
This is what the Lord GOD says: Once again I will hear the plea of the house of Israel and do for them this: I will multiply their people like a flock. / Like the numerous flocks for sacrifices at Jerusalem during her appointed feasts, so the ruined cities will be filled with flocks of people. Then they will know that I am the LORD.”

Zechariah 2:11
“On that day many nations will join themselves to the LORD, and they will become My people. I will dwell among you, and you will know that the LORD of Hosts has sent Me to you.


Treasury of Scripture

For you shall break forth on the right hand and on the left; and your seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited.

thou shalt

Isaiah 2:2-4
And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD'S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it…

Isaiah 11:9-12
They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea…

Isaiah 35:1,2
The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose…

and thy

Isaiah 49:18
Lift up thine eyes round about, and behold: all these gather themselves together, and come to thee. As I live, saith the LORD, thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all, as with an ornament, and bind them on thee, as a bride doeth.

Isaiah 55:5
Behold, thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not, and nations that knew not thee shall run unto thee because of the LORD thy God, and for the Holy One of Israel; for he hath glorified thee.

Isaiah 60:10-13
And the sons of strangers shall build up thy walls, and their kings shall minister unto thee: for in my wrath I smote thee, but in my favour have I had mercy on thee…

make

Isaiah 49:8,19
Thus saith the LORD, In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee: and I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages; …

Isaiah 52:9
Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem: for the LORD hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem.

Ezekiel 36:35,36
And they shall say, This land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden; and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are become fenced, and are inhabited…

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Aboard Abroad Break Breakest Cities Descendants Desolate Dispossess Forth Full Gentiles Hand Heritage Inhabited Inherit Limits Nations Possess Resettle Right Seed Settle Spread Towns Waste Wide
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Isaiah 54
1. The prophet, to comfort the Gentiles, prophesies the amplitude of their church
4. Their safety
6. Their certain deliverance out of affliction
11. Their fair edification
15. And their sure preservation














For you will spread out to the right and to the left
This phrase speaks to the expansion and growth of God's people. The Hebrew root for "spread out" is "פָּרַץ" (parats), which conveys breaking through or bursting forth. Historically, this imagery would resonate with the Israelites, who were familiar with the concept of territorial expansion as a sign of divine blessing. In a spiritual sense, this expansion can be seen as the growth of the Church, spreading the Gospel to all corners of the earth. The "right and left" symbolize completeness and totality, indicating that God's promise of growth and influence is boundless.

your descendants will dispossess the nations
The term "descendants" refers to the future generations of God's people. The Hebrew word "זֶרַע" (zera) is used, which means seed or offspring. This promise is reminiscent of God's covenant with Abraham, where his descendants were promised to be as numerous as the stars. "Dispossess" comes from the Hebrew "יָרַשׁ" (yarash), meaning to inherit or take possession. This reflects the historical context of the Israelites entering the Promised Land, displacing the nations that were there. Spiritually, it can be seen as the Church's mission to bring the light of Christ to all nations, overcoming spiritual darkness.

and inhabit the desolate cities
"Inhabit" is derived from the Hebrew "יָשַׁב" (yashab), meaning to dwell or settle. This suggests a sense of permanence and establishment. The "desolate cities" symbolize places that were once abandoned or in ruin. Historically, this could refer to the restoration of cities after the Babylonian exile. In a broader spiritual context, it signifies the restoration and renewal that comes through God's intervention. The desolate places of the world, both physical and spiritual, are transformed into places of life and community through the presence of God's people.

(3) On the right hand and on the left.--Comp. Genesis 28:14. Strictly speaking, the words indicate specially the north and the south, in relation to one who stands looking towards the East. Here, of course, they mean "on every side." The words that follow have, like others, a lower or material and a higher or spiritual meaning.

Verse 3. - For thou shalt break forth; or, thou shalt increase (see Genesis 30:30, 43; Exodus 1:12). An overflow, like that of the bursting out of water, is pointed at. On the right hand and on the left; i.e. "on all sides" (comp. Genesis 28:14). Thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles. The Christian Church is viewed as a continuation of the Jewish Church; and the conversion of nation after nation to the gospel is regarded as the extension of Jewish dominion over fresh lands. The cities of these lands - desolate hitherto, i.e. without godly inhabitants - will under these circumstances come to be inhabited; i.e. will be peopled by faithful men.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
For
כִּי־ (kî-)
Conjunction
Strong's 3588: A relative conjunction

you will spread out
תִּפְרֹ֑צִי (tip̄·rō·ṣî)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - second person feminine singular
Strong's 6555: To break through

to the right
יָמִ֥ין (yā·mîn)
Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 3225: The right hand, side, the south

and left;
וּשְׂמֹ֖אול (ū·śə·mō·wl)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 8040: Dark, the north, the left hand

your descendants
וְזַרְעֵךְ֙ (wə·zar·‘êḵ)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular construct | second person feminine singular
Strong's 2233: Seed, fruit, plant, sowing-time, posterity

will dispossess
יִירָ֔שׁ (yî·rāš)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 3423: To occupy, to seize, to rob, to inherit, to expel, to impoverish, to ruin

the nations
גּוֹיִ֣ם (gō·w·yim)
Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 1471: A foreign nation, a Gentile, a troop of animals, a flight of locusts

and inhabit
יוֹשִֽׁיבוּ׃ (yō·wō·šî·ḇū)
Verb - Hifil - Imperfect - third person masculine plural
Strong's 3427: To sit down, to dwell, to remain, to settle, to marry

the desolate
נְשַׁמּ֖וֹת (nə·šam·mō·wṯ)
Verb - Nifal - Participle - feminine plural
Strong's 8074: To stun, devastate, stupefy

cities.
וְעָרִ֥ים (wə·‘ā·rîm)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - feminine plural
Strong's 5892: Excitement


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OT Prophets: Isaiah 54:3 For you shall spread aboard (Isa Isi Is)
Isaiah 54:2
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